Your doctor gives you the news.. you have a
chronic disease. How doyou react? Your heart catches. Air rushes out of your
lungs. Your fistsand throat tighten with emotion. But your mind makes
all the noise. Itsilently insists, "no! You must be mistaken... sure I
feel lousy, but itcouldn't be that"

You have entered the first - and perhaps most

dangerous -stage of your chronic disease:
Denial. You refuse to admit this disease is now a part
of your life. This is a naturalreaction - no one wants an incurable illness. It's
difficult to believe that nopill, no operation, and no amount of time will banish
it.

But you may be

able to control this disease with your doctor's help,
calm its symptomsand get on with your life -
unless you flounder in denial.

What's so dangerous about denial? When you deny the disease, your

self-care becomes erratic. You block the road to
feeling better, you shutout your doctor, and your health deteriorates. You
settle for a life ofillness.

"You have a choice," says Nancy Sanders. "You can choose to control

the disease, or you can let it control you.
Either you can learn to cope oryou can feel hopeless, guilty and crippled." As for fear, Ms. Sanders believes it is
crippling. "Knowledge erasesfear," she says. "To move ahead you need to raise your
expectations ofwhat you can do...never accept mediocrity."

!! Learn as much as you can about the disease.

!!Consider counseling.

!!Meet with other people who have your chronic disease.

!!Laughter is always good medicine.

!! Don't depend on your doctor to drag you out of denial. He'll try, of